No Means No
by Deadwrong11
Summary: Eve's boyfriend was killed by a monster 50 years ago. Believing she could never love again, she joined the hunters. Taylor is a daughter of Demeter who is being pressured by the Hunters to join the hunt. Nick is a stubborn demigod who refuses to be taken to Camp Half-Blood. What sort of connection do these demigods have, and what does it have to do with a plot to destroy camp?
1. Prologue

Prologue

September 6, 1963:

"No! George please no!" Eve screamed at her boyfriend as she cradled his head in her arms. His dark brown hair was caked with blood, and his sky blue eyes began drooping closed more and more. She didn't care that the blood and dirt were ruining her dress. She didn't care that there were sixteen girls standing around her looking at the scene. She didn't care when one of them, Zoe or something like that, told her it was too late to do anything for him. "It wasn't supposed to be this way. We were going to homecoming together, remember? You promised that we'd get our picture taken together. You never go back on a promise."

"Eve, please..." Phoebe started to say.

"No! He's not going to die!" But Eve knew she was only kidding herself. George had already lost too much blood from the minotaur attack. They had been ambushed on their way back from Camp Half-Blood, where they had met and fallen in love three years previously. The Hunters of Artemis had chanced upon them and tried to save the pair. In the end though, it was George who had pushed Eve and Phoebe out of the way of the monster's club. They had been saved, but George took the full force of the blow. His chest was caved in, his skull was split open, and blood was everywhere.

"Child," she heard Artemis say, "It is over, he is gone." Eve began to wail harder than before. Her tormented cries echoed through the forest.

"He died a hero's death. Protecting you and Phoebe from harm." Zoe said as she tried to comfort the girl. "Rest assured he will be welcomed into the gates of Elysium for his sacrifice."

"I didn't know him," Phoebe added, "but I'm humble enough to admit that it would have been me lying there if it hadn't been for him. Not many males have my respect, but he does." The other hunters added similar remarks, commenting on his positive attitude and strong moral character. Though their words were meant to be comforting, they only cut Eve deeper. All they did was point out amazing qualities in an amazing person that she had lost forever.

"How can I go on?" she asked. "How can I possibly keep going when the only person who truly cared about me is gone?" It was true. Her family was inattentive at the best of times; abusive at worst. Her friends at school were fake and cared about her only because her family was rich. George had been different. All he cared about was who she was as a person. "I don't think I can ever love someone again the way I loved you."

"I can't speak for your mind, but I can tell you that there are sixteen people here who care about you Eve," Artemis told her. "If you truly think you can't love again, then I can offer you a place with the hunters. You would be welcome with us."

"I would live forever? Hunting monsters as your maiden servant?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I accept." Eve said with absolute conviction. If she couldn't be with George, then she wouldn't be with anyone, ever.


	2. Chapter 1

**I don't own squat, and I'm kind of mad about it.**

Chapter 1: Eve's POV

_Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Now!_ The arrow whizzed through the air and struck the minotaur right in the throat. It collapsed in a crumpled heap in the woods. _Right where I wanted it to go, perfect shot as always._ Eve watched with contempt as the monster weakly tried to crawl away. Her green eyes showed no remorse for the suffering creature. It was just a monster after all. A wisp of her long black hair had escaped her ponytail and she pushed it out of her eyes.

"Oh no you don't," she said to it. Eve drew her knife and began prodding the dying beast with the blade, drawing a satisfying cry from it with each poke. "Thought you'd make an easy meal out of me huh? You don't know who you're dealing with." She continued to stab the monster repeatedly until an arrow flew right past her head and into the minotaur's eye. It disintegrated in a cloud of yellow dust as Eve whipped her head around to glare at the one who stole her kill. "Thalia," she growled. "What do you think you are doing stealing my kills?"

"You weren't killing it, you were torturing it." She shot back. "That's not how we do things in the hunters."

"Fine thing you telling me what we do in the hunters, considering I've been here almost five decades longer than you." Eve made to retrieve her arrow.

"You may have been here longer, but you're still holding on to your old baggage. It's no mistake that the one monster that you repeatedly attack and torture are minotaur."

"So what?" She asked.

"I'm concerned is all," Thalia said. "As your lieutenant it's my job to look out for your welfare, even if you've been here longer than I have. I don't want to see you obsessing over this idea of revenge."

"That's going to be a bit hard considering who my mother is." Eve started to laugh despite herself.

"Nemesis, right. I guess that would be a bit of a challenge." Thalia began to laugh as well. "Ready to head back to camp?"

"Sure, why not." Eve was happy that Thalia didn't want to press the issue any further, at least for now. They walked for about five minutes before they emerged in a clearing where over a dozen silver tents had been set up. Girls in silver parkas where milling about the camp. No boys were to be found because the Hunters of Artemis had sworn off the companionship of men forever. Most of the hunters outright hated males. Eve was different. Her motivation for joining the hunters wasn't because a man had hurt her, like most of them, but that the only person she had loved was killed. She knew she couldn't ever be happy with someone else, so her solution was to swear off men entirely. Despite her differing motives for joining the hunters, some of their attitude still had rubbed off on her. She generally held men in contempt, but she couldn't be sure if it was because she was subconsciously comparing them to George or not. Or maybe she was just becoming more mature and finally realized how stupid men could be. Either one, didn't really matter to her.

"I need to go report to Lady Artemis, but I'll see you later okay?" Thalia smiled to her as she walked towards the largest of the tents.

"Alright, see you later Thalia." Eve shouted back to her. _Good, some time to myself will be nice. Even if I just did have time to myself in the woods._ Eve entered her tent and flopped down on her sleeping bag. "Mmmmm, cozy cozy cozy. Love it." Eve was just about to drift off to sleep when she heard someone come in.

"Oh, sorry Eve. Did I wake you?" Jessie, her tent mate, asked. "I didn't mean to, I was just coming to grab something from my bag. Please don't be mad at me."

"It's fine Jessie, you don't need to apologize for coming into your own tent. I wasn't really asleep anyway." Eve rolled her eyes as she still kept apologizing. Jessie was brand new to the hunters, having just escaped from an abusive home and boyfriend, and was used to being blamed for anything that went wrong. Thalia had put Jessie with Eve so that she could help the younger girl gain some self confidence. It had been two weeks and Eve was proud of herself for getting Jessie to shoot her bow straight and to get her to stop crying all the time at least. That was progress. Eve had been crying non-stop for two months when she first joined the hunters. "Seriously, you didn't do anything wrong. What's up?"

"Not much. I think Lady Artemis is going to make an announcement as to our next destination in a little bit."

"That will be nice," Eve responded. They had been camped in this clearing for almost a week and Eve was getting restless. She wasn't alone either, many of the other hunters were ready to move on. "I wonder where we will go next?"

"I'll bet..." Before Jessie could put in her guess, a horn blew outside. It was two short burst of the hunting horn. The signal for the hunters to gather for an important announcement. Jessie and Eve looked at each other, then headed outside.

"Gather around my sisters," Lady Artemis said. Her appearance was that of a twelve or thirteen year old girl with flowing auburn hair. A silvery aura surrounded her as it did all of her hunters. "I have new of our next destination." She paused for a few seconds before telling them, "Camp Half-Blood." An audible groan went up from the gathered hunters. They didn't like going to the camp and the camp really didn't like them coming there. "I know it is not ideal, but I have been asked by Chiron personally to bring the hunters to camp to deal with a problem they have been having."

'What sort of problem?" Erica, another hunter, asked. "Why can't they deal with it themselves?"

"Show a little more respect for your mistress Erica," Thalia growled at her. "Or I will personally teach you a lesson in respect myself."

"Thank you Thalia, but that won't be necessary. To answer your question Erica, I don't know the exact nature of their problem. But I have promised we will come to camp and help in any way we can."

Phoebe was the next to speak up. "Who wants to bet this problem will probably walk on two legs and have something dangling between them." The last comment got quite a few laughs from the hunters.

"I couldn't say Phoebe, but you can ask when we arrive at camp."

**Review, review. I need you to please review.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Read and Review. I own nothing except OC.**

Chapter 2: Taylor's POV

"Summertime! I love the sunshine and seeing all my friends at camp and gardening. Oooohhh, I can't wait!" Taylor jumped in the air as she made her way up Half-Blood Hill and looked down at the camp. She squealed as she could make out the Demeter Cabin in the distance and took off pell-mell down the hill. When Taylor Arbor had first arrived at camp, everyone knew she was a daughter of Demeter. Firstly, Demeter had this weird sense of humor when it came to the names of her children, always picking names that had to do with plants and agriculture. Second, she made no secret of her love of gardening and plants.

"Taylor!" She heard someone shout. It was Annabeth, with Percy and Grover close behind.

"Annabeth, how are you? I haven't seen you since last summer."

"I know, we really need to catch up. But right now we have to go; Chiron already has a mission for us."

"What sort of mission?" Taylor asked. It was strange for Chiron to be giving missions this early in the summer. Normally, he would give the demigods a few days to get settled in before sending them out. "Do you want me to get you some tomatoes from the cabin? It never hurts to eat your vegetables you know."

"We're fine Taylor." Percy groaned. "I swear, you are just like your mother sometimes."

Taylor seemed to perk up at the comparison. "Well thank you Percy, but you didn't answer my first question. What sort of mission are you already being sent on? Chiron doesn't usually give missions this early?"

"We need to go pick up a demigod and bring him to camp." Annabeth said. "Normally, a satyr would go alone, but this one has been pretty reluctant to come to camp."

"How reluctant?" Taylor asked them.

"Putting three demigods and one satyr in the medical tent reluctant," she answered. "Two of the demigods were sons of Ares, the other was a daughter of Nike."

"So now the dream team is going to bring him in," Percy continued. "And we should get going."

"Right, well good luck to you. Stay safe. Look both ways before crossing the street. Don't talk to strangers. Cover your mouth before you cough..."

"Taylor!" they all groaned. Taylor just smiled and waved goodbye to them as she made her way to the Demeter Cabin to drop her stuff off.

"Taylor, how was your school year?" asked Miranda Gardiner, the head counselor for the Demeter Cabin when Katie Gardner was away. Taylor had just burst into the cabin. Unlike your typical camp cabins, the cabins at Camp Half-Blood were made to reflect the aspect of the godly parents whose children lived in them. In the case of the Demeter Cabin, its roof was one giant garden with tomato plants and other vegetables growing there. On the inside, there were bunk beds lining the walls and each bed had its own little window.

"It was fine enough," she answered. "But, I'm always happiest when I'm here at camp with my family. Speaking of family, where's Katie?"

"TRAVIS! I"M GONNA KILL YOU!" A familiar voice screamed from outside.

"Never mind," Taylor said, rolling her eyes. Travis Stoll was the head counselor, along with his twin Connor, of the Hermes Cabin. They were always pulling pranks around camp and swiping other people's stuff. "I wish those two would just make out already instead of this. It's like they're in the second grade."

"I think you're exaggerating a bit Tay," Miranda said. "Travis is easily still kindergarten." They both burst out laughing at that. Everyone knew that Travis Stoll and Katie Gardner really cared about each other. They just didn't know how to express their feelings like adults.

"Miranda," Taylor started. "Do you know anything about this demigod that won't come to camp?"

"Who told you about that?" Miranda asked. "It's supposed to be a secret."

"I'm sorry. I just saw Percy, Annabeth, and Grover on their way out of camp. They told me what was up."

"Well you aren't supposed to know this, but since you already know..." Miranda sat thinking for a second. "You haven't been here very long, but not all demigods take the news of their true nature as well as you did."

"Well I was looking for any excuse to get out of foster care," Taylor said. She remembered how just a year ago, a satyr came to her and told her about who and what she really was. Taylor was skeptical at first, but when she was promised to be taken out of the foster system and go to a place where she would have friends and family, it was no longer a discussion. Her bags were packed in ten minutes. "So not everyone is happy about the news?"

"Nope," Miranda answered. "Some demigods have pretty good home lives and are reluctant to leave until they understand the danger they pose to their family. This one doesn't seem to understand that and has repeatedly refused to come to camp. So when the satyr, I think it was Spruce, came back with a black eye and four cracked ribs, Chiron assembled a team of two sons of Ares and two daughters of Nike to bring him in."

"Annabeth said that they didn't fare much better."

"They didn't," she replied. "Michael and Bryson, the sons of Ares, both have broken arms. Amy Bower, the daughter of Nike, has a pretty bad twisted ankle and two broken fingers. He seemed to make sure not to hurt the girls as much."

"Oh, what a gentleman." Taylor said sarcastically. At that moment a horn sounded throughout the camp. The horn was announcing the arrival of the Hunters of Artemis.

"What are they doing here?" Miranda asked. "Camp is only starting today." Taylor didn't answer. She was never comfortable around the hunters. It was their attitude that she didn't like. They were so blindingly against men and anyone who had anything to do with them, and gods forbid if anyone has their own, differing, opinion on the subject.

"I guess we should get going to greet them," Taylor said with absolutely zero enthusiasm.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter three, we are on a role here! We finally get to meet Nick. Eve, Taylor, and Nick are my OC, everything else isn't.**

Chapter 3: Nick's POV

May 17th, 2013 Yonkers, NY

Nick Uno stood stock still as the three masked men pointed their weapons at him. Things had been going so well up to this point. It was the first day of summer and he was about to be in a world of hurt. His brown, almost black, hair was plastered to his face with sweat. His piercing blue eyes darted from one figure to the next, trying to find an opening to make a move. There wasn't one. He was trapped. Sweat trickled down his neck, past a birthmark on his neck that resembled a bird's foot.

"Would you three be open to letting me just go? He asked, "I'll give you what I have on me and walk away if you do." Nick gave them a winning smile, showing off his white teeth and the two dimples on his left cheek. The three men were having none of it.

"You took out six of our buddies," the large, Neanderthal looking, one said. "We want some recompense for that."

"Can you even spell recompense?" Nick tried to stop himself but he couldn't help it. Sometimes people just set you up perfectly to be a smartass and you have to take it.

"Oh, a funny guy too," Captain Caveman said. "Well let's see if you think this is funny, Mr. Comedian." The three of them shouldered their weapons and fired. Nick had just enough time to cover his junk before the shots connected. The three didn't stop immediately though, and continued to shoot Nick well after he had been hit and fallen to the ground.

"Alright, alright! You got me," he yelled angrily. "Jeez you guys you could have killed me!"

"Relax Uno," the big one said. All the upperclassmen referred to Nick by his last name and it had caught on with the rest of the school. It was meant to be a complement, like they were saying he was Numero Uno, but he found it annoying. Still, who was he to argue with the juniors and seniors when he was so popular with them. "They're just paintball guns. They can't kill you."

**Probably should have mentioned from the beginning that they were playing paintball.**

"Yeah, well a shot from a paintball gun at point-blank range still hurts like hell Paul," Nick retorted. "Seriously overboard."

"Sorry bro." _Ugh, I hate them calling me bro._ "Hey, here come the girls." At that moment, a dozen of the hottest, most popular, and downright shallow girls from Nick's high school came walking up.

"Are you Neanderthals still playing soldier with your toy guns?" The head cheerleader, Christy, asked. _Can she even spell Neanderthal? Can she even spell toy?_ Nick kept his thoughts to himself. It wasn't a good idea to piss off the most popular girl in school, especially when you were 'dating' her little sister. Really Nick's relationship with Christy's sister, Spencer, was a bigger joke than Window's new operating system (zing). Nick was on the JV track team at school and had blown the competition away in the state championships (Nick was a very fast runner) and won Taft High's very first state win for track and field since the 1970's. The very next day at school, Christy had approached him with Paul and Spencer during lunch and announced to everyone in the cafeteria that Nick and Spencer were officially a couple. Now Spencer was very hot for a Freshman, but she was essentially a carbon copy of her big sister. Shallow, obsessed with herself, and unconcerned with how other people truly felt. Nick had been about to protest the arranged relationship but was pulled aside by Paul who told him, in no uncertain terms, that Spencer did have a legitimate crush on Nick and that to reject the head cheerleader's baby sister was tantamount to social suicide.

"I wonder if they can even spell tantamount," Nick mused out loud.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Nick said quickly, realizing his mistake. "What's going on?"

"Well you, Captain Idiot," she said, pointing her finger in his chest, "forgot your and Spencer's two week anniversary. What are you planning on doing for her tonight?"

"I didn't forget that this was our two week anniversary," Nick told her. "I just didn't realize that we were going to celebrate a two week anniversary. Perhaps you should give me the event list of all the 'special' occasions that I need to remember. That way we won't have this problem again." Remember about not being able to help himself.

"Watch it Uno," Christy said. "You and I both know that I can fix it so you won't ever get another date until you're forty." It was no idle threat. "Just put on a nice shirt, take her to a nice place for dinner, and then go to the end of the school year fireworks show. Got it?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Good, and don't even think of trying to get to second base tonight."

"Is that supposed to wait for our three day anniversary of first going to the zoo on a Tuesday?" _Ugh, control yourself._ Christy just shot him a dark look before walking off toward her car with Paul and everyone else in tow. "Good riddance," he muttered under his breath. Nick enjoyed being popular at school despite the fact that he was only a sophomore as of today and wasn't even old enough to get his license yet. He would've enjoyed it more if he didn't have to socialize with Paul, Christy, and all their friends. They were the stereotypical popular clique. They put other people down for no reason and still expected those same people to vote for them as class president and homecoming king and queen.

"They seemed like shallow enough people," a voice from behind said. Nick spun around to see a girl and two guys standing behind him. The girl had blonde hair and stormy grey eyes. One guy had jet black hair and sea green eyes, and the other had curly brown hair and brown eyes. Nick wasn't sure why they were talking to him until the girl spoke again. "With quality friends like them, I can see why you don't want to come to camp."

Nick's eyes widened at her last remark. "Oh, so they sent some more people to drag me away."

"The black haired guy spoke. "It's not like that..." he began.

"Shut up!" Nick spat, "I told the others before I don't want to go to some camp. I'm perfectly fine right here on my own with my friends and family. So just go back to where you came from and leave me alone."

"We can't do that Nick," the blonde girl said. "As long as you are out here on your own you will be in danger. The monsters will get your scent and hunt you down. You'll also be putting the people around you in danger as well. Is that what you want Nick, to get the people you love hurt?"

"You keep saying that but I haven't seen any of these monsters." It was true. Nick had yet to encounter a single monster since the revelation that he was a demigod. "Maybe you're wrong about the monsters." Nick began slowly backing up to make some room between himself and them.

"We're not wrong Nick. You've just been unnaturally lucky that none of them have come for you yet, but they will come for you eventually." The tall guy began edging closer towards Nick. That's what he wanted, to see the subtle, tell-tale signs that their gait and muscle twitches would give away. From that, Nick could give a fairly accurate guess as to how they would react in a fight and then form a strategy based on his guesswork.

_The tall guy seems fairly graceful for a dude, he definitely must be a swordsman. He'll be the hardest to take down. The guy with the brown hair walks kinda funny. He must be a satyr, and that means he will only use a slingshot. I'll go after him first so I won't get pelted. He won't be able to avoid me with those shoes on. I'll just need to knock him over and follow up with a kick to the jaw. The girl hasn't moved a muscle. She just keeps staring at me intently. She must be a strategist too; doing the exact same thing that I'm doing now. I'll have to take her down second before she can outthink me. I can use the satyr's slingshot to stun her, gut shot will double her over, then finish with a blow to the kidneys to put her down. That guy, he will be tough but I think if I make him angry then he will lose focus. He will come at me first. Probably will try to grab me by the arm to keep me from leaving. I'll stomp down on his foot to distract him, block his blind jab, and then head butt to the nose. That will give me time to take out the other two. After I make him mad, he'll charge at me. I'll duck and use his momentum to run him into the park bench. His shins will be hurting after that so I'll land a kick to them while I grab his weapon arm with both hands and dislocate his shoulder. The girl will have recovered by then, but I can just run off at that point. She won't leave her injured friends to chase after me._

"Please," Nick began to say. "I don't want to fight anyone. Those others wouldn't take no for an answer. I only ever defended myself. Please just leave me be and we can all go home happy." Nick really did mean it. He hated fighting other people to hurt them and tried to avoid it whenever possible, but lately these demigods hadn't been giving him any other choice.

"I'm sorry Nick," the tall guy said, grabbing his wrist, just as Nick predicted. "I promise that you'll come to like Camp Half-Blood. Lots of people are hesitant at first, but it really is a great place. You'll make some great friends and maybe even more." He looked back at the blonde girl and smiled, and that gave Nick his opening.

"Percy!" the girl screamed, but it was too late. Nick stomped down on the guy, Percy's, foot as hard as he could. Percy was distracted by the pain but still threw a blind left hook towards Nick's face. Nick blocked the punch and stepped towards Percy and head butted him right in the nose. Percy let go of Nick's wrist to cup his bleeding nose and Nick bolted over to the satyr who was just pulling out a rock and slingshot. Nick slammed into the satyr, causing it to topple to the ground, and grabbed the rock and slingshot. Nick spun and kicked his right heel into the satyr's jaw, sending it sprawling. Nick kept spinning to face the girl and shot the drawn slingshot at her head. It struck with a satisfying knock and before she knew it, Nick had landed a solid jab to her solar plexus. She doubled over and Nick landed a piston blow to her kidney which sent her to the ground.

Nick heard a shout behind him and spun to see Percy, suitably mad, with a drawn sword. Percy charged straight at Nick. Before he could land a blow, Nick ducked under Percy's sword arm, grabbed him by the wrist, and pushed him right into a park bench. Percy crashed into it hard but got up fast and spun back to face Nick. He was just in time to watch him deliver a sharp kick to his hurting shins. Distracted by the pain, Percy was unable to stop Nick from grabbing his sword arm with both hands and twisting his arm out of its socket. Percy's arm gave an audible pop as he yelled in pain and dropped his sword. As Nick predicted, the girl had gotten up by that point, but Percy and the satyr were down for the count. Nick picked up the sword Percy had been using and started to back away.

"You can chase me, or you can see to your friends, not both." He said to her, turning away and taking off away from the park where the scene took place. Fifteen seconds, that's how long it took. Nick was able to take down two older, experienced demigods and a satyr in fifteen seconds. His stomach churned. Nick prayed that they wouldn't force him to do that again.

**So a bit longer than before I know, but I needed to get a lot more done in this chapter. I apologize to all you Percy fans I promise to make it up to you somehow. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Please review.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews so far. From this point on, I'm going to slow things down now that my main characters are established. I'll try to update often (maybe once a day) but my schedule is fairly unpredictable. I don't own PJO.**

Chapter 4: Eve's POV

May 17, 2013 Camp Half-Blood

Eve sat on the tree branch, waiting for the perfect shot. The son of Apollo she was playing cat and mouse with had been raining havoc on her fellow hunters during the traditional game of capture the flag. He was a good shot, Eve gave him that, but she was better. There was a flicker of movement in a tree not even fifty yards away.

"There you are," Eve said to herself. "Stupid boy." Before she could fire her arrow, another arrow hit the side of the tree right next to Eve's head. "Dammit," she swore. "There's two of them." Eve jumped backwards out of the tree as more arrows were shot in her direction. "Too slow." Just as Eve thought she was in the clear, a girl burst out from beneath the bushes and slammed into her.

"This fast enough?" the girl asked Eve. She then slashed at Eve with her sword.

"Taylor," Eve exclaimed. "Since when do you use a sword?" Eve had only seen the daughter of Demeter a few times before, but she normally hung back from the fighting and used her plants for defense instead. This was new behavior for her.

"I've picked up some new skills," she answered. Before Eve could back away, Taylor slashed downwards at Eve's shoulder. Eve was able to deflect the sword with her bow and followed with a punch to Taylor's abdomen. "Too slow." Taylor had grabbed Eve's arm and was twisting it around.

"You've gotten a lot stronger," Eve commented. Taylor had indeed gotten much stronger since last summer. "Someone has been eating her veggies."

"Don't patronize me, Eve." Taylor replied.

"Wouldn't dream of it." At that moment, Eve was able to twist out of Taylor's grasp and gained some distance between the two of them. Unfortunately, the direction she went put her right in the sights of the two sons of Apollo from earlier. Eve was only just able to avoid getting hit by the two archers. "Damn."

"Having some trouble?" One of them called. "Do you need someone to come save you?"

"How about you come down here and ask me that, punk?" Eve was allowing herself to get flustered, and that was not good. She needed to remain calm. Taylor reengaged her, putting her on the back foot. She broke off just in time for another pair of arrows to come shooting out of the trees. Eve was able to dodge one but the other hit her right shoulder. "Aaaahhhh!" Eve screamed as her shoulder exploded in pain.

"Do you like it?" Taylor was edging back towards Eve. "It's a special toxin that Demeter cabin cooked up. It won't kill you, but it does hurt like Hades. We coated all our weapons with it." Eve's only response was to slash at Taylor with her knife. Her right arm hurt too much to use, so she was relying only on her left.

"That's a low trick Taylor," Eve snarled at the girl.

"It's only low if it's not effective," she heard someone say behind her. It was a big guy with dusky skin and powerful forearms. He was holding a shield in one hand and a hammer in the other. Definitely a son of Hephaestus. "The other hunters are finding that out right now."

"You'll pay for that," Eve promised. She took stock of her situation and came to a grim conclusion. She could take any one of these campers one on one, but they weren't going to let that happen. One arm hurt too much to use and the only weapon she had was her knife since she needed both arms to use her bow. The only other option was to run; it was a serious blow to her pride but she didn't have any choice.

The campers were all in a good mood tonight. They had won the capture the flag game against the hunters. Although the hunters were still grumbling that the campers cheated with the toxins they put on their weapons. Once the first few scrapes and grazes had been taken, the hunters had started dropping like flies. Each small cut had put them out of action and they were quickly overwhelmed. Eve had only been able to last a little bit longer before one of the Stoll twins had knocked her over the head. Thalia had been the last hunter to go down, she had spent most of the game shooting lightning charged arrows at Nico, so she only became aware of how things had fallen apart when it was too late to do anything. Now, Eve was in the Big House with Thalia and Phoebe waiting to find out what the big problem was that the camp couldn't handle. Eve was getting impatient. All the head counselors except Percy and Annabeth were here. The Stolls were still grinning ear to ear from the camper's victory, Clarisse was sharpening a sword over in the corner, Katie Gardner kept shooting glares over at Travis Stoll, and even Nico was off by himself by the window, only occasionally looking over at Thalia.

"Well where are they?" Thalia asked when her patience was reaching its end. "We came all this way for some special mission that Chiron has for us and he's not even here. And where is the kelp head and Mrs. Know-it-all (has anyone thought to use that for Annabeth before? Cause I can't remember)? Why aren't they here?" As if on cue, the door opened and Percy and Annabeth strode into the room, followed by Grover and Chiron. Percy, Grover, and Annabeth looked like they had just been through the wringer, but Eve couldn't remember seeing them at capture the flag.

"Shall we begin?" Chiron addressed to no one in particular. "Thank you all for being here tonight. We are currently dealing with a problem with a certain demigod named Nick Uno. He has repeatedly refused to be brought to camp and has proven to be a very adept fighter when he needs to be." Chiron looked around the room before continuing. "I have asked the Hunters of Artemis here to support us in bringing this misguided young man to camp before he gets himself or anyone else hurt."

"Told you it would walk on two legs and have something dangling between them," Phoebe whispered into Eve's ear. Eve giggled until Thalia shushed them both.

"Do we know who this demigod's parent is?" she asked. "That might give us some hints as to the best way to take him down."

"We don't know who, but we have some theories," Percy answered. Eve realized he and the others must have come back from trying to bring this demigod in. "He was very skilled in combat despite not having any training. So we think he may be a child of Ares." Clarisse perked up at that last comment.

"If he is one of my brothers," she said. "I'll personally go to bring him in."

"He could also be a son of Athena though," Annabeth picked up. "During our encounter with him, I got the distinct impression that he was building a complex strategy to take us down, and not just charging in recklessly."

Grover picked up at this point. "There are other possibilities. He seemed to know what we were going to do before we did it, so a child of Apollo is also possible. He may also be a son of Hermes or Nike, since he is very athletic and moved really fast."

"He also stole Riptide," Percy said. "After he took me down, he stole my sword. So a child of Hermes is likely in that regard. He may also be another child of the Big Three since he was so strong."

"This seems like a lot of conjecture," Eve said. Everyone looked in her direction. "What you are really saying without saying it is that you have no idea whose son he is. So we may as well stop talking about what we don't know and start talking about what we do."

"Well said Eve," Thalia said to her, and then returned her attention to the others. "My sister is right, we need details about what we definitely know about him and form a plan to capture him based on that information.

"Does this mean that the Hunters of Artemis will help us?" Chiron looked right at Thalia, waiting for an answer.

"Yes," she said. "Since no one else seems to be able to catch him, the hunters will be more than happy to."

**So any predictions for the future? I'd like to know who you all think Nick's godly parent is? I'll hold a contest to see who can get the right answer. The first person who does will get advanced plot details e-mailed to them before I post the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Read and review please. I don't own PJO**

Chapter 5: Taylor's POV

May 18, 2013 Camp Half-Blood

Taylor knelt in the strawberry fields picking strawberries and humming the Godzilla theme song to herself. That's not a typo either; the girl was actually humming the Godzilla theme song to herself as she picked strawberries. She had her long blond hair up in a ponytail, and was wearing denim short shorts and her camp t-shirt. All the Demeter kids were in the field picking the strawberries while other campers were off sword fighting and wall climbing. The children of Demeter were usually happiest, though, when they were picking strawberries in the fields, or otherwise working with plants. Taylor was in a good mood today. Her plan for the capture the flag game had worked perfectly and it had been very satisfying to see the Hunters of Artemis put in their place. Chiron did scold them afterwards and ordered them not to do it again, but it did not matter. They all knew that the trick could only work once anyway.

"THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE JACK-ASS THAT I HAVE EVER MET..." Katie could be heard shouting at Travis Stoll from across the field. At first the other Demeter kids had been watching, but lost interest when they realized it was business as usual with Travis and Katie. "... COULD HAVER SERIOUSLY HURT SOMEONE. WHAT KIND OF IDIOT ARE YOU?"

"Come on Katie," Travis said to her. "Even you have to admit it was funny." Travis had come up to Katie ten minutes earlier with a plump strawberry just for her. He told her it was a peace offering and that they should come together in the wake of the campers victory over the hunters. Katie had accepted after some initial hesitation and bit into the strawberry. It promptly exploded and covered Katie's face with blue ink.

"OH, YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY? WELL HOW ABOUT THIS FOR FUNNY?" At that moment Katie started directing thorn bushes to chase Travis around the strawberry field. In Travis' defense, Katie should never have fallen for such an obvious prank.

"Oh to be in love," Taylor mused out loud. This got a few snorts from her siblings who went back to picking strawberries. "Miranda, what was the counselor's meeting last night about?"

Miranda looked up from her work at Taylor. "It confidential," she said. "I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"It's about that demigod, isn't it? The one that won't come to camp." Miranda looked shocked at how easily Taylor guessed what was up. "Were Percy, Annabeth, and Grover not able to bring him back?"

"No," Miranda answered. "This demigod, Nick his name is, did a number on them and stole Percy's sword. Be quiet about it though. You aren't supposed to know any of this."

"Don't worry, I know how to keep a secret. I'll just..." but Taylor didn't get to say what she was going to do because at that moment, a group of about five hunters or so came walking up to where Taylor and the other Demeter kids were working.

"What do they want?" Taylor heard her brother, Chase, ask with a hint of scorn.

"Ha ha. Scorn rhymes with corn." Taylor said out loud. Miranda gave her a funny look.

"Taylor? Taylor Arbor?" One of the hunters asked. Taylor's face paled at the mention of her name. What did the hunters want with her?

"Umm, yes, that's me," she said meekly as she stood up. "Am I in trouble or something?"

"No, but we'd like you to come with us for a minute, please." Taylor wasn't so sure about it. She wasn't exactly the biggest fan of the hunters, and wasn't too excited about going off on her own with them. She had a feeling she knew what they wanted.

"I... I th... think that I'll just st... stay here," Taylor stammered, becoming more nervous by the second. She recognized the one who was speaking as Thalia, the lieutenant of the hunters.

"Okay I see where the problem is," Thalia said, not taking her eyes off Taylor for a moment. "I said 'please', when I actually meant 'now,' get moving or I'll get you moving."

"Hey, you can't talk to her like that," Chase was getting up and walking over to where they were. "If she doesn't want to go with you than she doesn't have to go. Why don't you harass someone else?"

"Be quiet male!" One of the other hunters said. She emphasized the word 'male' like it was a curse word. "This is none of your business."

"Anything that has to do with a child of Demeter becomes our business Erica." Miranda had now gotten to her feet and was standing next to Taylor. The rest of the Demeter cabin were also on their feet and walking over to where the scene was taking place. Several of them, particularly the boys, were holding their farming equipment with tightened grips. "So why don't we start again. What do you want with Taylor?"

"What is going on here?" Katie was running over to them with Travis right behind her. "Thalia what are you doing here? I thought you and the other hunters were getting ready for the mission."

"We are Katie, but Lady Artemis wants to speak with Taylor..."

"You mean she wants me to join the hunt, right?" Taylor had already known that was what they wanted the second that they had asked for her.

"Yes," Thalia nodded her head. "It is a great honor, Taylor."

"I don't think that I want to," she answered them. "You can tell Artemis that I said no."

"I know you might be scared Taylor," Eve continued. "But the hunters will teach you all about bravery and self reliance."

"And," Erica said. "Artemis asked you to come to her to give you the offer. So you should show some respect to her and the hunters and come with us right now."

"You want me to show you respect?" Taylor was beginning to lose her temper with the hunters. "Maybe you should show some respect yourselves. All you girls do, all day, every day is bitch about boys and put other people down for not hating them as much as you do." Taylor had begun to strike a nerve with Thalia and the other hunters. "And it's really funny that you are talking to me about bravery, Thalia, when you're the one who joined the hunters so you wouldn't have to deal with the prophecy. Oh, and let's not forget about Eve; who only joined the hunters because she couldn't deal with her boyfriend dying. Maybe if you weren't such a hard-ass George wouldn't have been the only person that gave a shit about you."

"Don't you dare say his name to me!" Eve screamed as she jumped at Taylor and knocked her to the ground. At that moment the whole scene erupted into utter bedlam. The other children of Demeter tried to get Eve off of Taylor while the hunters tried to keep them off of Eve. "How dare you say his name! How dare you even mention George to me!"

"ENOUGH!" A voice roared close by and the campers and hunters looked up to see a livid Chiron walking (prancing?) up to them. "What is the meaning of this?"

Eve had not heard Chiron come up. She still had Taylor pinned to the ground yelling, "Don't say his name! Don't ever say his name!" The other hunters pulled Eve up to see tears streaming down her face.

"What happened here?" Chiron asked again. He got about a dozen answers all at once.

"She just attacked for no reason!"

"They provoked her! It wasn't Eve's fault!"

"They came here looking to start a fight!"

"We don't start fights, we finish them."

"Big talk considering you just lost capture the flag."

"Silence!" Everyone went deathly still; all except Eve who was still trembling with anger. "Thalia I thought you were preparing the hunters to depart."

"We were Chiron, but Lady Artemis wanted to speak with Taylor about joining the hunters." Thalia did not look at Chiron but at Taylor when she said it. Taylor just stood stock still under her gaze.

"Well it seems to me that you have your answer," Chiron said. "Take your hunters and finish your preparations."

"But..." Thalia started to protest.

"I said go, Thalia." Thalia bowed to Chiron and ushered the hunters, with a still upset Eve, back to the Artemis cabin. Chiron shifted his gaze to the Demeter children. "Katie, take your siblings back to your cabin and prepare for dinner. Also, you should focus more on keeping your cabin in line than flirting with boys." Chiron cantered off towards the Big House after that.

"Chiron, I was not flirting with Travis!" Katie yelled after him, but Chiron didn't hear what she said. Katie turned to Travis and smacked him across the head. "Idiot!" She yelled at him. Now you've gotten me and my whole cabin in trouble."

"Hey this one is not on me Katie," Travis protested, but Katie would not listen and continued to berate Travis. Taylor just smirked as the rest of them made their way back to the cabin.

**So what do you think? Any theories? Any suggestions? Please review. I thrive on your input.**


	7. Chapter 6

**So we're back, read and review please. I don't own PJO.**

Chapter 6: Nick's POV

May 19, 2013 Yonkers, NY

It was early in the morning and a light mist hung to the ground. Nick had not been able to sleep in and decided that a morning run was the next best thing, followed by waffles and orange juice of course. After the ugly business with the demigods in the park, Nick had run straight home with the sword he had taken. It was a while before he had figured out how to conceal the weapon as a pen, but now he carried it with him at all times. It never hurt to be prepared. The whole situation had made him hesitant to even leave his room until Spencer had come barging into his house demanding to be taken on their two week anniversary date. His mom wondered why Nick would put up with a girl who was so not his type and acted like a spoiled princess. Nick often asked himself why he didn't just stand up to Christy and Paul and tell them that he was going to do what made him happy and not what they wanted him to do. After all, he stood up to those demigods just fine. He had a few theories but the one that most often came back to him was that he was enjoying being popular at school and was afraid that without the upper classmen, he would lose that. It also helped that Spencer was crazy hot. If Nick had to be with her, and couldn't like her for her personality, he might as well like her for her looks.

"I bet she can't even spell personality," Nick mused out loud as he stopped to take a breather. He had strayed off the main path and was deep in the forest that came up to his neighborhood. Nick wasn't afraid of getting lost though, he always had a great sense of direction and took careful stock of how he got to where he was. Nick kept running, and after a few minutes he noticed that there was another person running a short ways behind him. As he glanced back he saw that it was a girl with short black hair, a silvery sweatshirt and shorts, and silver running shoes. "Someone likes silver," he muttered to himself, but didn't pay that much attention to her after that.

"Getting winded?" Nick looked back behind him to see that the girl had caught up to him. "Don't tell me you're slowing down." Her voice had an almost mocking tone to it. It was as if she was expecting him to get tired.

"I have been at this for almost an hour, but I could go for a while longer." Nick wasn't really sure why he was bothering to justify his tiredness to a complete stranger. "I'm an athlete so this is a daily thing for me anyway."

"Oh yes, I can see how athletic you are," she smiled, but Nick got the impression from her smile and her tone that she was mocking him. It was getting on his nerves.

"Whatever," he said, and turned his back on her. "Bye."

"Hold on Nick." _What, how does she know my name? She doesn't know me... unless... oh no._ "I thought maybe we could have a chat with you."

"We?" Nick turned around to see eight girls standing where there had been only one before. Unlike the first girl, the rest were all dressed in silver jeans and black tank tops. He might have actually considered it his lucky day if they weren't also pointing drawn bows at him. "I don't want to alarm you," Nick said. "But you are all glowing silver."

"We know that idiot," one of the girls snarled at him. "We are the Hunters of Artemis, maiden servants to the goddess of the hunt. We have sworn off the company of men such as yourself and receive the blessing of Artemis that grant us immortality, as well as great strength and speed." She gave him a haughty look of contempt after she finished her speech. Most of the other girls were giving him the same look, except for two. The girl who had spoken to him first, who he guessed was their leader, had a calm demeanor to her, and another girl with long black hair and green eyes stared at him with a strange expression on her face. Was it shock, disbelief, or fear? He couldn't tell.

"That sounds pretty incredible," Nick said to them, trying to be as courteous as possible without sounding patronizing. "But if you have sworn off the company of men, why are you looking for me?" He already knew the answer. They were more demigods sent from that camp to try and take him in. He just wanted them to admit it first.

The leader girl spoke up again. "We are looking for you because we are going to take you to Camp Half-Blood. Not many demigods cause as much trouble as you have Nick. We have come to make sure that the job is done right this time."

"Wow," Nick was more annoyed than anything else. "You guys just can't take a hint can you? I don't want to go to some camp."

"It isn't a question of what you want. This is about protecting you and the people around you from yourself. Until you reach camp and train to fight, you can never be safe. Now, will you come willingly?"

_Like hell I will. _Nick thought. _There's too many of them to fight, and based on what they said, they might be stronger than normal demigods. If I can't fight, I'll have to run, but I can't out run them or those arrows. There is a river ten yards to my left though. If I jump in the current will outpace them probably and, provided I get out on the opposite side, I can lose them. So I just need to get to the river._

"I guess there's no point in trying to resist, is there?" Nick asked.

"Not really, you would lose."

"Well then," Nick didn't bother to finish and instead bolted for the river. As he suspected the 'hunters' shot at him, aiming for his legs and shoulders to incapacitate him. He had anticipated this and used his momentum to swing around a tree at the last second and avoid the arrows. "Gonna have to try harder than that." He shouted back at them, once again not being able to stop himself from trying to be witty.

"How the Hades did he do that?" He heard them shout behind them. Before they had a chance to shoot again, Nick dove into the river and let the current sweep him away. Unfortunately, Nick had miscalculated the strength of the river's current, and what he thought was going to be a speedy getaway turned out to be a leisurely float. The girls were able to keep pace with him with a brisk walk. "Worst escape plan ever, of all time." Their leader was saying to the other girls. They laughed at that.

"Damn, what else can go wrong?" Nick didn't have long to wait to find out, because even though the river was moving slowly, certain objects in it were not. A large branch was coming up behind him swiftly but his head was turned the other way. He wasn't able to move in time before the branch slammed into the back of his head, knocking him out cold.

Eve's POV

"No!" Shouted Eve at the moment the branch hit his head. She didn't stop to think and jumped into the river after him. His head had just slipped underneath the water when she got to him. Taking a deep breath, Eve dove under the water and brought him back up to the surface. "He's not breathing," Eve said in a panic as she pulled him up to shore.

"Oh well," Erica said. "One less pain in the butt to deal with then."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Eve was shrieking and in a panic as she tried to perform CPR. "Phoebe, you're our best healer. You need to save him."

"Why?" Phoebe asked Eve with a confused look. "What's so important about him?"

"Just look at him Phoebe. Really look at him." Eve was pointing at the unconscious boy lying on the ground. "Look at the hair, and the facial features. Look at the damn birthmark!"

"Oh, my gods," Phoebe said as she took a closer look. "This can't be right."

"What's going on?" Thalia and some of the other hunters looked confused by Eve and Phoebe's reactions. "It's just some guy."

"It's not just some guy, Thalia." Phoebe said to her as she began performing CPR herself.

"Well then who is he?" Thalia asked starting to get annoyed.

"George," Eve whispered.


	8. Chapter 7

**And we're back. Sorry for not updating, but I've been busy. Read and review please. I don't own PJO.**

Chapter 7: Eve's POV

May 19, 2013 Just outside Yonkers, NY

"I'm telling you it is him," Eve was saying to Thalia and the other hunters gathered inside Artemis' tent. "He had the same eyes and hair, and even the same damn birthmark on his neck."

"Eve please do not befoul the air with that kind of language," Artemis said. "I understand the grief that you felt when George died, and that you might not have completely moved on from that tragedy. However, that doesn't mean that Nick Uno is actually your friend George."

"Boyfriend," Eve corrected. "He was my boyfriend, and I know what I saw when I looked at his face. That guy is George."

Thalia spoke up. "If that was this George guy, wouldn't he be in his sixties then? This kid isn't even old enough to drive. I'm sorry Eve, but I agree with Lady Artemis, it just can't be him. No matter how much you may want it to be." The other hunters expressed similar sentiments.

Eve wouldn't listen to what they were saying. She knew it was him the second that she saw his face. "We all know that there are many ways to stop the aging process. We ourselves are evidence of that. There could be a hundred different explanations for why he has not aged." A hint of hysteria was creeping into Eve's voice as she desperately tried to get the other hunters to believe her. "Phoebe," she said remembering that she had been there that fateful night. "You were there the night George and I were attacked by that one-eyed minotaur. George saved your life, remember?"

"I do," Phoebe answered, although she might not have enjoyed admitting that a male saved her life. "My lady, Eve is right about one thing, the boy does look remarkably similar to George, almost exactly like him in fact. I can't say that it is him, since we did watch him die that night, but I don't think that the likeness between the two is a coincidence."

"Well said Phoebe," Artemis said. "I agree with your assessment that their likeness is not random. Nor do I think it was random that Eve was part of the group that brought him in. Our main task is still to bring him to Camp Half-Blood. The truth about who exactly Nick Uno is will be discovered there. You are all dismissed." The hunters bowed and exited the tent. After Eve left the tent she made a beeline for the tent that the person she thought was George was being held in. Thalia caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Eve wait," Thalia started to say.

"What is it Thalia?"

"I know what you are going to do, and I don't think that it's a good idea for you to be the one to talk to him just now." Thalia tried to give Eve a small smile, but Eve just glared back, so Thalia also glared back.

"And why do you think that it's a bad idea? I knew him the best and I'm the one that can figure out if he is George or not." Eve just wanted to get into the tent and figure things out.

"Okay, how do I put this delicately?" Thalia was not giving any ground. "I think that you are delusional to think that this guy is your boyfriend who has been dead for fifty years. I think that you have been holding onto this grief and anger for so long that it is making you see and believe things that are not there. Finally, even if this guy does look like your boyfriend, I think you are probably not the best person to talk to him because you won't be able to keep your feelings in check." It wasn't very delicate at all to be honest.

"So what, you think that if there is some connection between this guy and George then I will leave the hunters for him? Or do you think I'll leave the hunters for him regardless of who he is because he reminds me of George?" Eve felt a little insulted.

"I'm not the only one who is worried about that," Thalia answered honestly. "Several of the other hunters and even Lady Artemis were showing obvious concern about you at the meeting." Eve was taken aback by this. "They are genuinely worried about where your loyalties lie."

"My loyalties," Eve stated, "are right here with the hunters. And don't forget that." Eve spun away from Thalia and marched into the tent to see the boy who looked exactly like George sitting on a small cot with his hands tied behind his back. Erica was standing guard over him with obvious distaste on her face. "Erica," Eve said acknowledging the guard.

"Eve," she said back. "I'm guessing you're here to see him," she said jerking her thumb in Nick's direction.

"Yes, would you mind leaving us for a minute?" Eve tried her best to give Erica a winning smile.

"Sorry, I can't." Erica said, "Thalia told me not to leave him alone for one second so that he can't escape again. Not that he could if he tried. He is a male after all." Erica sneered in Nick's direction as she said this. Nick didn't bat an eye at the comment, and instead just stared at Eve and Erica intently, as if he was analyzing them both.

"Fine, whatever." Eve didn't have the will to argue with Erica over this issue. She sat down on the cot next to Nick and did her best to give him a reassuring smile. What she gave instead was closer to a creepy stalker grin that made Nick edge away. "My name is Eve," she said. "Could you tell me what your name is?"

"It's Nick," he said. "Nick Uno."

"Yes I know that, but is there another name you use Nick? One that you may have used a long time ago?" It was plain from his expression that Nick didn't have the slightest idea what she was talking about. Eve sighed, "Does the name George Cross mean anything to you?"

"No it doesn't," Nick answered. "Who is he?"

"We think that he is you, Nick." Erica snorted at what Eve was saying. "Okay, I think he is you then. George was my boyfriend fifty years ago, but he was killed by a minotaur. You look exactly like him, right down to the bird foot shaped birthmark on your neck. That can't be a coincidence. Is there anything that you can tell me that might clear this up?"

Nick was detecting a hint of desperation in her voice and stood up to get away from her. Eve felt a little hurt at this. "I'm sorry," he began. "But I'm not this George guy that you think I am. I'm Nick Uno, I was born on July 8, 1998 (do the math) to Jennifer Uno in Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. We lived in Memphis for two years before moving to a suburb here." Eve was very hurt at this and Nick's posture softened somewhat. "I'm sorry about your boyfriend, but I'm not him. It really is just a coincidence that we look alike."

"There's no such thing as coincidence for a demigod," Erica said.

"Even so," Nick said glancing over at the other girl. "We have a bigger problem to deal with." Erica raised her eyebrow as if asking what the problem was. "Your group of friends are holding me against my will. That could go over very badly for everyone."

"Oh really," Erica said. "I don't think so. It was our job to bring you into camp and that's what we are going to do. You don't have a choice in the matter."

"I could leave," Nick shot back. "You wouldn't be able to stop me."

"Please don't Geor- Nick," Eve corrected herself. "Camp Half-Blood is the only safe place for demigods."

"So people keep telling me. But the only times I have been attacked is by other demigods. So I think I would be safer away from all of you."

"Well that's not going to happen male," Erica was right in his face and pointing her finger in his chest. "You won't be able to escape the hunters and we will take you to camp. So just get used to the idea."

"I don't have to get used to anything." Nick tried to force his way out of the tent only for Erica to grab him by the shoulder and force him down onto the cot.

"Try that again and I swear I will..." but she didn't get to finish as a voice was heard calling from outside.

"Erica, Eve. Can we see the two of you for one minute?" Both girls exited the tent to answer whoever was calling them. They didn't notice the smirk that Nick had on his face.

"What's going on?" Eve asked as she emerged from the tent to see Thalia, Phoebe, and Artemis standing outside. "My Lady," Eve and Erica remembered to bow.

"Eve," Artemis said. "I understand that you insisted on talking to Nick even though Thalia advised against it."

"I wasn't given a direct order to stay away from him."

"No, you were not, but you still shouldn't have," Thalia growled. "You need to learn to respect your lieutenant."

"The damage is done anyway," Artemis interrupted. "Now tell us what you learned from him."

Before Eve could relay the information she received Phoebe spoke up. "Erica, what happened to your knife?"

"What do you mean?" Erica asked as she looked at her empty knife sheath. "What? It was just here. I just had it on me... oh... oh no." Erica rushed back into the tent in a panic.

"Erica," Thalia looked concerned and followed her in along with the others. "What's wrong?" Eve came in last and saw that Nick was gone, the ropes tying his hands had been cut and were on the ground, and there was a tear in the back of the tent that was clearly made by a knife.

"Wow," was all Thalia could say.


	9. Chapter 8

**It's been a while since my last update. Sorry about that. I've been out of the country with my family but now I'm back and so is the story. I don't own PJO.**

Chapter 8: Taylor's POV

May 21, 2013 Camp Half-Blood

"So the fierce Hunters of Artemis couldn't catch this kid any more than the campers could." Percy had a smug look on his face.

"Can in kelp head," Thalia growled from across the table. "We did catch him. We just... lost him... immediately afterwards. But it was mostly Erica's fault!"

"Hey! Don't pin this on me Thalia."

"You're the one that got your knife stolen."

"Eve was the one going on about her dead boyfriend and distracting me."

"He looks exactly like George, what was I supposed to act like?"

"We shouldn't have let a boy into the hunters camp in the first place"

"Does anyone know what's for dinner tonight?"

"Enough!" Chiron shouted over the arguing. "It is obvious that mistakes have been made by many of us in regards to handling this demigod. Multiple people are at fault, but we all underestimated this young man's ability and conviction. We need a new plan to bring him into camp and figure out how to keep him here. Do any of you have an idea?" He looked at each of the counselors, co-counselors, and hunters in turn, but none of them could come up with an idea. Even Artemis and Mr. D couldn't come up with any ideas, although Mr. D probably wasn't trying very hard.

"Since he is so against coming to camp. Can we just leave him alone like he asked us to?" It was Will Solace who voiced the idea.

"No," Chiron answered . "Leaving a demigod out there to fend for himself is not an option. Even if he doesn't want out help, he will see the error of his thinking if he spends enough time here."

"I have an idea." Everyone's heads turned to the open doorway where Taylor was standing. The hunters were glaring at her and she gave them a flat stare in return. "I'm sorry to have eavesdropped, but I think I may have an idea that has been overlooked."

"What is this idea Taylor?" Chiron looked interested.

"Let's go ask his parents," Taylor said with complete seriousness. The whole room burst out laughing at that statement. "Oh, I'm sorry," she huffed. "I just thought you all would be a little more humble after you all failed so spectacularly at getting this job done." That shut them up. "Have any of you even thought to talk to his family? It may be a long shot, but they could get him to come with us." Taylor looked from Percy to Annabeth to Chiron to Mr. D. None of them seemed to be taking the idea seriously.

"Now Tabitha," Mr. D said. "I'm sure that there are better ideas then going to talk with his parents. Personally, I like the 'leave him alone so he doesn't come to camp' idea. Who needs more brats around here anyway?"

Chiron stepped forward. "Mr. D, we need to bring him to camp. However, I do agree that simply talking to his parents is not the course of action that we need to take."

"But-" Taylor began.

"No Taylor," Annabeth said firmly. "There is no chance in Hades that we are going to just walk up to his house and ask his parents to sit down and talk."

One hour later Chiron, Taylor, Annabeth, and Percy were sitting in Delia Uno's living room sipping Earl Grey tea and listening to Nick's mother chat away about this and that. Nick himself was standing by the doorway with his arms crossed. Directly across the room, Percy was mirroring his posture. Both were glaring daggers at each other. Nick had been initially hostile towards them when Chiron and the others first knocked at his door. The situation would have turned violent if Delia hadn't invited them in against Nick's protests.

"And that's the situation Mrs. Uno," Chiron had finished explaining. "Nick needs to come to Camp Half-Blood so he can receive proper training and keep the people he cares about safe."

"They're full of it," Nick said. "I haven't seen one monster my entire life, not one. They only want me to go to this camp so I can be another soldier in their little child army."

"That's not true!" Percy yelled from across the room. He was standing straight up and his fists were clenched. "There are dangers out there Nick and they will come for you sooner or later. I don't know why there haven't been any monsters coming for you but they will come eventually. Even if you don't get hurt, they may hurt someone close to you. Is that what you want?"

"Of course not-"

"Then why won't you come with us?"

Nick glared at Percy for a long while before he answered. "I can't make you understand."

"You haven't tried to," Chiron said.

Nick looked down and thought for a moment, looking for the right words to try and make his point clear to everyone. "It's because you're threatening me."

"No one here has threatened you Nick," Annabeth said.

"Yes you have," he replied, his voice strained with distress. "You have and you don't even realize that you have. You didn't threaten me with physical violence. You threatened to take away everything that I have in life by changing my perception of reality. Already I can't go back to the way things were before I learned about all of this. You can't unlearn that, and now you want to take me away to some place to train me to fight on behalf of someone I have never met. I like how my life is right now and you will change all that and it can never be changed back if I don't like it." Nick looked at each of them in turn. Percy's expression changed from anger to sympathy. Annabeth's expression was unreadable. Chiron was still trying to make sense of his words. His mother looked upset that her son had been in so much emotional distress and she hadn't even noticed.

Taylor seemed to understand the best. "Are we to understand that you are afraid that the changes that this will bring to your life won't be for the better and that you'll lose the life you had before? Also, you resent the fact that you aren't being given a choice in the matter?"

"Yes," he answered with relief on his face. Finally someone understood.

"How about a compromise," Taylor offered. "Come to camp just for the summer. Train with us and learn to defend yourself. Well, learn to defend yourself even more than you do now. Get to know the people at camp and even make some new friends. Learn about what we are and what you are. At the end of the summer, if you decide you don't like what you see, then you can leave and won't be bothered by us again. If Chiron and your mom agree."

"I think it seems like a wonderful idea," Delia said.

"I agree," said Chiron. "This seems like an acceptable compromise."

"Well I don't," Nick said.

"At least give them a chance honey," his mom said.

"I don't want to give them a chance."

"Nicholas Maxwell Uno!" _Oh snap we're using the full name_, Taylor thought. "You need to remember who is the child here and who are the adults."

"I'm not a child-"

"Well you are certainly acting like one." His mom's voice was stern. "You're going to that camp whether you like it or not. After the summer is over, we will discuss if you will continue to go there or not."

Before Nick could reply the front door swung open and a voice came calling from it. "Nicky Poo!" The form of his girlfriend, Spencer, walked in and looked around before immediately going over to him and wrapping around his body. She then threw dirty looks towards Annabeth and Taylor before asking him, "Who are these people Nicky Poo?" Percy snorted.

"Company," was all Nick was able to say through gritted teeth while glaring at Percy. "They invited me to go to some summer camp with them."

"What? Nooooo!" Taylor wailed at him. "You can't go to summer camp. I have so much planned for us for this summer. There's a pottery class at school I signed us up for and also the summer solstice square dance and we need to take you to Hot Topic to do something about your clothes and-"

"I'll have my bags packed in ten minutes," Nick said to Chiron.


End file.
